Janet Evanovich - Full Bloom

Footsteps sounded on the stairs and Wes entered the kitchen. His hair was still wet from his shower, but he hadn't bothered to shave. He looked from one woman to the other. "What's wrong?"

Theenie didn't hesitate. "Somebody is stealing Destiny's underwear, and Annie has had two cancellations." She covered her mouth and shot an apologetic look at Destiny. "I'm sorry I brought up your unmentionables. Sometimes things just pop right out of my mouth before I think."

Destiny shrugged, propped her elbows on the table, and leaned forward slightly, the cameo attached to her gold necklace sinking between her breasts. "It's okay," Destiny told Theenie. "I'm not easily embarrassed."

Wes turned to Annie. "Who canceled what?"

"It's not important," Annie said. The absolute last thing she wanted to do was tell Wes her problems.

Theenie suddenly brightened. "There's still the baby shower on Saturday."

Annie smiled and nodded. She wasn't one to let things drag her down for long. "You're right. You and Lovelle need to start thinking about the decorations." Annie knew both women got a kick out of sifting through her large cardboard boxes where she kept all sorts of decorations neatly packed and labeled; they would choose just the right items and spend hours putting them up.

Wes turned his attention back to Destiny. "You're missing lingerie?" he asked. "There's a bunch of, uh, female stuff hanging over the shower rod in my bathroom. I was wondering what they were doing there."

"See, I told you they'd show up," Annie said.

"Yes, but I didn't put them there," Destiny replied. "The ghost did it."

Wes looked at her. "What ghost?"

A sudden clatter overhead made them jump. Peaches, napping in a pool of sunlight at the window, leaped to her feet, arched her back, and hissed.

"That one," Destiny said.

Annie chuckled and waved it off. "It's just the wind."

"That's what she always says," Theenie told Wes.

"Destiny is pulling your leg about the ghost," Annie went on. "We obviously have a prankster in the house, don't we, ladies?" Even as she said it she felt a brush of cool air on the back of her neck, making her hair stand on end and sending shivers down her spine.

* * * * *

Dusk had settled in as Destiny stepped over the crime scene tape surrounding the still-gaping hole. The deputies had worked for two days, combing the area for evidence, before deciding they'd probably found all there was. Yet the garish yellow tape remained. Standing before the grave, Destiny closed her eyes and remained perfectly still. A cold wind whipped through the branches of the tall oaks, rustling the leaves and causing the gray moss to wave and shudder. Finally, Destiny knelt beside the hole and ran her fingers through the black dirt that would have made a perfect vegetable garden had Charles Fortenberry not been found buried there. Destiny let the dirt sift through her fingers.

"What are you doing?" a male voice asked.

Destiny turned and found a baffled-looking Erdle standing there. "You wouldn't understand."

"Nobody's supposed to go on that side of the tape."

"You plan on turning me in?" She sounded indifferent.

"You could be destroying evidence."

Destiny laughed. "If those local yokels haven't found anything by now they're not going to."

"What makes you think you will?"

"Because my methods are different."

Erdle cocked his head to the side, studying her closely. "Chief Tevis says you're as crazy as a bedbug."

"That's because I always steal his thunder each time he hits a dead end and is forced to call on me. And because I won't sleep with him. Imagine that."

"So, were you able to get any messages from the beyond?" Erdle asked in such a way that made it obvious he didn't believe in her abilities.

She shook her head. "Too many people have been over it, which lessens my chances of picking up on anything. Lamar should have let me have at it first." She regarded Erdle. "You got any idea who might have killed Charles Fortenberry?"

"If I did know I wouldn't tell. Way I see it, he got exactly what he deserved."

It was late when Wes stepped out onto the piazza, slipping into his denim jacket to ward off the night chill. Moonlight peeked through the overhead branches, offering just enough light that he could make out the silhouette of someone sitting on the wicker swing. "Annie?"

"I couldn't sleep." She huddled deeper into her terrycloth bathrobe and pulled the afghan around her shoulders.

"Me, neither." Wes crossed the piazza. "May I join you?"

Annie scooted to one side, and he sat down. "Would you like for me to make you a cup of hot chocolate?" she asked. "It sometimes helps me fall asleep."

"Aren't you off duty?"

She was able to make out his rugged face in the moonlight, the certain way he held his head that gave him an air of confidence. She liked that about him. That and the probing, alert eyes that not only convinced her of his intelligence but also made her feel he was always on top of things. "I like to see to the comfort of my guests," she said.

"Oh yeah?"

She didn't have to look at him to know he was smiling. "There are limits, of course," she said, unable to resist smiling back at him.

"I don't think I've seen you relax more than ten minutes since I moved in. You're always moving."

"There's a lot involved in running this place."

"So what do you do for fun?"

"Sometimes Danny and I see a movie."

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"Danny?" Annie chuckled. "No, we're just friends. I've known him for years."

"He seems protective of you."

"Yes." She wouldn't tell him that Danny sometimes carried it to extremes, that he often offered more advice than she needed. "He was there for me when my marriage hit the skids. I don't know what I would have done without his support."

"Maybe he'd like to be your boyfriend," Wes said.

Annie caught the teasing lilt in his voice. She laughed. "Danny would be the first to tell you I'm not looking for a boyfriend."

Wes nodded thoughtfully. "So why'd you marry this Charles in the first place? Sorry to say it, but he sounds like he was a jerk."

Annie looked at him. "You ask a lot of questions; you know that?"

"I've always been curious. You can tell me to mind my own business."

She shrugged. "Charles could be charming when he wanted, which is why he did so well in real estate." She wouldn't tell Wes how lonely and vulnerable she'd been when she met Charles, shortly after her grandmother's death. She wouldn't mention her dreams of a big family, how she'd yearned for it growing up. Those things she kept close to her heart. "It just didn't work out," she finally said, knowing she sounded like it had been no big deal when it really had been a big deal.

"You weren't married long."

"Two years."

"You got any idea who could have killed him?"

"No. And Lamar Tevis probably won't look too hard, since he thinks I did it. I guess he suspects the truth: that inside I'm a dangerous, cold-blooded killer."

"He's probably seen you with your rolling pin." Wes slid his arm along the back of the swing, reached for a thick strand of her hair, and rubbed it between his fingers as though testing its texture. "I think you're dangerous."

"Oh yeah?"

"Those big green eyes of yours, those cute freckles. A deadly combination, if you ask me."

"Makes it easier to snare my victims," she said lightly, although she was uncomfortable with his fingers in her hair, stroking downward, his knuckles grazing the back of her neck. She shifted on the swing. "Um, Wes?"

"You don't like that?" He pulled his hand away.

On the contrary, she liked it too much. But she had no business sitting in the dark with him and letting him touch her in a way that made her think of what it had felt like lying against him. The swing moved, and when she looked up, she found he'd slipped closer. She could feel the heat from his body. A light breeze ruffled his hair. His brown eyes looked black.